Please read the quote below from the post on Ten Bear’s site. Then think of the things tRump and his supporters claim they plan to do. Hugs. Scottie
White Rose survivor Jürgen Wittenstein described what it was like to live in Hitler’s Germany: “The government – or rather, the party – controlled everything: the news media, arms, police, the armed forces, the judiciary system, communications, travel, all levels of education from kindergarten to universities, all cultural and religious institutions. Political indoctrination started at a very early age, and continued by means of the Hitler Youth with the ultimate goal of complete mind control. Children were exhorted in school to denounce even their own parents for derogatory remarks about Hitler or Nazi ideology.”
Diversity efforts are designed to bring more minorities into positions of authority and better paying jobs. Ask your self why anyone would be against that? Ask why those people would go to the point of using the power of the entire state to deny such programs? It is about white cis straight power! It is flat out racism! I don’t know how else to explain it. These people are threatened by programs that reach out to minorities instead of just giving all the good jobs to white people or include black / brown people in higher education. Hugs. Scottie Some quotes below
However, DEI programs typically provide support not only for students from marginalized communities, but also for veterans, low-income students, first-generation students, single parents and students with disabilities.
“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) departments, programs, and entities play a pivotal role in providing a safe and inclusive space for minority and marginalized communities on higher education campuses,” the statement reads. “These initiatives offer students a platform to voice their concerns, establish a home away from home, and foster unity within the student life community. Any attempt to remove personnel, funding, and programming jeopardizes the very existence of these essential spaces.
Oklahoma’s ban is the latest in a wave of efforts across the country to walk back DEI initiatives that were largely popularized during and after 2020. Earlier this year Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, signed bills banning institutions from spending federal or state dollars on DEI initiatives, while, last month, the Iowa Board of Regents voted to direct the state’s public universities to cut DEI programs that are not necessary for research contracts or accreditation. The same day Stitt signed his executive order, according to WPR, Wisconsin Republicans successfully pushed the University of Wisconsin to freeze DEI staffing through 2026 and eliminate or refocus about 40 positions focused on diversity.
Order prohibits agencies and public colleges and universities from using state funds, property or resources towards DEI initiatives
University of Oklahoma Sooners’ college campus. The university’s president has stressed its commitment to ‘access and opportunity’ for all students. Photograph: Forge Productions/Alamy
On Wednesday Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma’s governor, signed an executive order in effect banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at agencies and public colleges and universities across the state.
The order prohibits them from using state funds, property or resources towards DEI initiatives and orders them to dismiss “non-critical personnel”. It is effective immediately, but institutions are expected to comply no later than 31 May 2024.
The 25 public colleges and universities in the state also have to provide reports that detail the expenditure of their former DEI initiatives and job positions. Stitt said he is “implementing greater protections for Oklahomans and their tax dollars”. But according to local news outlet KFOR, only “around $10.2m was spent on DEI programs in the past decade. It accounted for three-tenths of one percent of all higher education spending.”
Kevin Stitt, the governor of Oklahoma. Photograph: Sue Ogrocki/AP
The governor also said that Oklahoma should focus on supporting low-income and first-generation students instead of supporting students based on their race. However, DEI programs typically provide support not only for students from marginalized communities, but also for veterans, low-income students, first-generation students, single parents and students with disabilities.
In response to the executive order Joseph Harrosz Jr, the president of the University of Oklahoma, sent a letter to the OU community acknowledging how alarming the elimination of these programs may be for some people. But he doubled down on the university’s commitment to accessible education, writing, “Please be assured that key to our ongoing successes as the state’s flagship university – now and forever – are the foundational values that have served as our constant north star: access and opportunity for all of those with the talent and tenacity to succeed; being a place of belonging for all who attend; dedication to free speech and inquiry; and civility in our treatment of each other. These values transcend political ideology, and in them, we are unwavering.”
“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) departments, programs, and entities play a pivotal role in providing a safe and inclusive space for minority and marginalized communities on higher education campuses,” the statement reads. “These initiatives offer students a platform to voice their concerns, establish a home away from home, and foster unity within the student life community. Any attempt to remove personnel, funding, and programming jeopardizes the very existence of these essential spaces.
Oklahoma’s ban is the latest in a wave of efforts across the country to walk back DEI initiatives that were largely popularized during and after 2020. Earlier this year Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, signed bills banning institutions from spending federal or state dollars on DEI initiatives, while, last month, the Iowa Board of Regents voted to direct the state’s public universities to cut DEI programs that are not necessary for research contracts or accreditation. The same day Stitt signed his executive order, according to WPR, Wisconsin Republicans successfully pushed the University of Wisconsin to freeze DEI staffing through 2026 and eliminate or refocus about 40 positions focused on diversity.
Read the full article. Stitt, who appeared here last month when he publicly praised illegal cockfighting, is a self-avowed Christian nationalist. He recently declared November to be “family month as ordained by God.” In June 2023, he authorized the nation’s first state-funded religious charter school. Last year he claimed “every square inch of Oklahoma in the name of Jesus.” Upon his inauguration, Stitt’s wife declared that his administration’s main priority would be “bringing people to Jesus.”
When he states that he wants to”protect Oklahomans” he really means the lily white males. Of course. The universe protect us from these Christian fanatics!
“Last year he claimed “every square inch of Oklahoma in the name of Jesus.” Upon his inauguration, Stitt’s wife declared that his administration’s main priority would be “bringing people to Jesus.””
When republicans show you who they are, believe them. What they say is not as important as what they try to do. They have learned there is no downside for them to lying, and they make their money by giving the countries wealth to the already wealthy at the expense of the lower incomes. Hugs. Scottie
Florida governor—and failing 2024 presidential candidate—Ron DeSantis sold his Party’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law as a way to protect children in elementary schools from LGBTQ+ “sexualization.” Then it was expanded through grade 12. Now, a Republican proposed legislation to expand it to the workplace. These efforts to restrict LGBTQ+ rights are never really about the children, and it’s time Americans wake up and realize that.
MSNBC is cancelling Mehdi Hasan’s weekend show, and his daily show on their streaming network. I discuss other changes MSNBC is making and what may be behind this.
Yara Jamal, a former journalist at CTV News Atlantic, is speaking out after she was fired for expressing her thoughts about the conflict in supporting a one-state democratic solution.
Also shown and discussed is a talk between Jewish Professor Avi Shlaim and Palestinian Author Ghada Karmi agreeing on a one-state solution.
I found the talk between Jewish Professor Avi Shlaim and Palestinian Author Ghada Karmi agreeing on a one-state solution to be very enlightening. Hugs. Scottie
Hi, this is a wonderful display of a normal 19 year old who is autistic. She is open about it, how it affects her daily life, how her celebrity which she is not using for her own benefit, and how she copes she mentions she really doesn’t like what she feels she has to do and often retreats to an environment that soothes her emotion distress. One of the things she mentions is her love of beans, and eating one bean at a time, as it helps her deal. The interview was grand. Here is a 19 year old who could have been using her status to make millions as an influencer yet proudly admits she will use her large platform to introduce other people who have expertise or experience in fighting the climate emergency, and then she steps aside, giving them the entire stage to say what needs to be said.
She is engaging, dare I say cute, without being called out as a sexist pig? She laughed at the host, who was not trying to be funny because that was how it struck her. I loved how she totally was not like other guests, she was herself.
If I don’t clip this right and you want to hear her talk about her autism and how it affects her and her activism, please go through the video. Oh one thing before where I start with her interview, they have kids on, and the kids love her. To the point where the host tries to ask one of the kids if he knew who he was or wanted to talk to him and the kid was like, no, I want to talk to her. What an ego busting moment. Hugs, best wishes, loves. Scottie
Oh notice one thing, she says she doesn’t need to make money from the books and activism, because she is in what we call college or university and her country pays her not only to be there but enough to live. Her living costs are paid because she is a student. Think about that next time an argument about student loans comes up and how great the US is. Hugs
Please notice every law suit and every action was to legally let Christians force thier religous views on public school children regardless of other families religious faths, or to demand public funds pay for the Christians to promote their religion / god. Just demand after demand for special privelege, special rights, demands for public money, demands to force their religion and ONLY their religion on others. The entitlement these people feel to force their way of life on others is sickening to me. Gay people don’t demand the right to force others to have same sex relations and have the public pay for it. Trans people don’t demand the government force a certain number of people be forced to transition against their will and use public funds for it. But for years dueing the same sex marriage debate we heard Christians like Mike Johnson yell “The gays want special rights, special privilege just for them” No we wanted equality, they want the right to be above all other religions or views / ways of living. Hugs. Scottie
“The ultimate goal of the enemy is silencing the Gospel,” the Republican said in 2004 after Jewish parents sued a school for pushing Christianity on their kids.
Before coming to Congress, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) spent years taking up lawsuits in defense of Christian speech and activities in public elementary schools and universities.
Johnson, who was a relatively unknown Louisiana congressman before being elected House speaker last month, previously spent eight years as senior attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, an evangelical legal group focused on dismantling LGBTQ+ rights and outlawing abortion. It was in his role there that Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, took up case after case aimed at chipping away at the separation of church and state.
What’s alarming about this pattern in his background is that it raises questions about whether the House speaker ― the person second in line to the U.S. presidency ― disputes the first freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment in the Constitution: ”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
In 2004, Johnson was the lead attorney for Stockwell Place Elementary when the Bossier Parish public school got sued for pushing Christianity on its students.
A set of Jewish parents sued the school after learning it was holding prayer sessions, teaching Christian songs in class and promoting a teacher-led prayer group called Stallions for Christ that met during recess. The Jewish parents, who had two children at the school, also cited a teacher with a Christian cross on the classroom door, a Nativity scene in the school library and a graduation program featuring Christian songs and a student-led prayer, and religious speeches delivered by two local sheriff’s deputies.
In their lawsuit, which you can read here, the parents claim their children were ridiculed and bullied by other kids for not participating in the religious songs. They raised concerns with the principal, who allegedly responded by defending the school’s Nativity scene and religious songs, and told the parents to “deal with it.” The parents also complained to the school superintendent, who allegedly defended the teacher-led prayer group because “this is the way things are done in the South” and “welcome to the Bible Belt.”
Johnson spoke about the lawsuit at his church, the Airline Drive Church of Christ in Shreveport, before taking on the case. He warned the congregation what was at stake with cases like the Jewish family suing to keep Christian activities out of a public school.
“The ultimate goal of the enemy is silencing the gospel,” said Johnson, according to an April 2004 story in the Shreveport Times about the lawsuit. “This is spiritual warfare.”
Here’s the article in the the Shreveport Times from April 2004:
“The ultimate goal of the enemy is silencing the gospel,” Johnson said in 2004 amid a lawsuit involving a Jewish family suing a public school for engaging students in Christian speech and activities.
SHREVEPORT TIMES
The Louisiana Republican also told church attendees, some of whom were reportedly nodding and wearing “I support Stockwell Place” T-shirts, that “if we don’t (win), they’re going to shut down all private religion expression.”
Johnson’s comments at church came a week after he wrote an opinion piece in the Shreveport Times calling the Jewish family’s lawsuit “the latest example of the radical left’s desperate efforts to silence all public expression of religious faith.”
Here’s Johnson’s article:
Johnson said in 2004 that a Jewish family suing a public school for engaging in Christian speech and activities was “the latest example of the radical left’s desperate efforts to silence all public expression of religious faith.”
SHREVEPORT TIMES
Johnson spokesperson Taylor Haulsee on Tuesday disputed that the House speaker was referring to the Jewish family as “the enemy” in the 2004 lawsuit.
“You are mischaracterizing his remark,” he said in a statement. “Johnson was referring to any coordinated attempt to impede religious expression that is protected under the Constitution, not any single family.”
Haulsee also emphasized that the first bill Johnson brought to the House floor as speaker was a resolution condemning Hamas and standing with Israel.
The lawsuit was settled in August 2005 with a consent order clarifying the types of religious expression allowed in public schools. But most of the case had been dismissed months earlier because the family moved out of state.
“On or about December 28, 2004, the McBride family moved to Missouri to escape the harassment and threats Tyler and Kelsey were enduring at Stockwell Place Elementary,” reads a March 2005 amendment to the lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which was not officially a party to the case, said at the time that the Jewish family likely would have won their case had they not moved away.
“The ACLU believes (the complaints) were meritorious and had the plaintiffs remained in the state, they would have been found meritorious,” Joe Cook, then the executive director of the ACLU’s Louisiana affiliate, told the Shreveport Times when the case was settled.
Before coming to Congress, Johnson spent a lot of time defending religious speech and activities in public schools, specifically Christianity.
TOM WILLIAMS VIA GETTY IMAGES
In another case in 2006, Johnson represented parents suing the Katy Independent School District in Texas for allegedly trying to ban religious expression and “acknowledgement of the Christian religion.” The parents argued that the school district violated their First Amendment rights by preventing them from “speaking about their religious beliefs” and “distributing religious items or literature to classmates” on school grounds.
This lawsuit was dismissed in 2010 with prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs can’t refile the same claim again in this court. The school did have to pay Johnson’s attorney fees, though.
The House speaker twice represented teenagers, in 2007 and in 2008, who were denied public school transportation to a “Just for Jesus” religious event.
In 2007, Johnson represented a high school student in a civil rights action lawsuit after her school refused to provide a bus for her club, called the One Way Club, to attend a “Just for Jesus” event. The student claimed that the school provided other clubs with transportation for fields trips and that it wasn’t fair to not provide a bus for the religious event. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed because the student found her own ride to the event.
A year later, Johnson represented a middle school student who sued her school for not providing a bus to the same event. This student, who was part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, claimed that she was denied school transportation to the “Just for Jesus” event because she and others in her club talked about their religious beliefs.
School officials claimed the real issue was safety concerns, because there was a shooting near the “Just for Jesus” event the year before, and some students had been “injured and fearful.” The school officials suggested the organizers of the event hold it during non-school hours or on the weekend. As a compromise, school officials offered to give students excused absences if they went to the event on their own during the school day.
The judge in the case ruled that the school worked in good faith with the student by offering an excused absence and rejected Johnson’s argument that the student demonstrated “a substantial threat of irreparable injury.” The student voluntarily ended her suit shortly afterward.
“It is repugnant to Sonnier that he … must obtain governmental permission to talk to a student about his Christian faith.”
– Johnson defending a traveling evangelist’s right to preach on a public university campus.
Johnson also led lawsuits in defense of religious speech on the campuses of public universities. In 2008, he lost a case involving a traveling evangelist who sued Southeastern Louisiana University after a school police officer told him he had to move to a free speech zone on campus to deliver his remarks and get his speech pre-approved.
As they stood there, the evangelist, Jeremy Sonnier, began engaging with a student about religion, at which point the officer warned he would be arrested if he didn’t move.
Sonnier’s legal argument, led by Johnson, was that the university’s speech policy was “unduly burdensome” and based on religious grounds.
“It is repugnant to Sonnier that he, as an individual citizen, must obtain governmental permission to talk to a student about his Christian faith,” reads the legal document, presumably written by Johnson.
A passage from a lawsuit led by Johnson in 2008 in defense of a traveling evangelist.
U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
A federal judge ultimately dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning Sonnier can’t refile the same claim again in the court.
In another lawsuit in 2003, Johnson represented a student at Texas Tech University who accused the school of violating his First Amendment rights by requiring him to get his speech pre-approved in order to speak on campus in a spot that was not in the “free speech area” gazebo. The student was challenging a school policy that barred students from engaging in speech that might “intimidate” or “humiliate” another person on campus.
The university initially denied a permit to the student to deliver remarks outside of the designated area expressing his religious view that “homosexuality is a sinful, immoral and unhealthy lifestyle,” and passing out literature citing Scripture. But the student was ultimately given permission to do this if he moved across the street.
In 2008, Johnson was the lead attorney for the Tangipahoa Parish school board in Louisiana when it got sued for opening its meetings with prayers and requiring they be delivered by eligible members of the clergy in the parish.
The plaintiff took issue with the school board bringing religion into its meetings at all and with the denial of his wife’s request to give an invocation at a meeting because she was a non-denominational Christian.
“Plaintiff finds equally objectionable the non-secular manner in which the Board meetings are conducted,” reads the plaintiff’s legal filing. “The Board meetings are an integral part of Tangipahoa Parish public school system, requiring the Board to refrain from injecting religion into them. By commencing the meetings with a prayer, the Board is conveying its endorsement of religion.”
The lawsuit was dismissed in 2010 after the parties reached a compromise.
Asked Tuesday if Johnson fundamentally disagrees with the separation of church and state, his office pointed to comments that he made last week on CNBC, when he claimed that Americans “misunderstand” the concept.
“When the Founders set this system up, they wanted a vibrant expression of faith in the public square because they believed that a general moral consensus and virtue was necessary,” Johnson said in the TV interview. “The separation of church and state is a misnomer. People misunderstand it.”
He claimed that Thomas Jefferson meant something entirely different from what we think it means when he coined the phrase.
“What he was explaining is they did not want the government to encroach upon the church, not that they didn’t want principles of faith to have influence on our public life,” Johnson said. “It’s exactly the opposite.”
He never actually said, though, if he disagrees with the separation of church and state.
“An abject danger to our democracy.”
– Rachel Laser of Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Rachel Laser, the president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said she has “grave concerns” about Johnson’s claims.
“Any public official ― let alone the speaker of the House and second in line to be president ― who claims America is a Christian nation and discredits church-state separation is an abject danger to our democracy,” she said.
Laser said Johnson is “repeating the myth that Christian nationalists typically use” to deny that church-state separation is foundational to democracy.
“Church-state separation is baked into the Constitution, from Article VI’s prohibition on religious tests for public office to the First Amendment’s religious freedom protections. Our freedoms, equality and democracy rest on that wall of separation. Without it, America would not be America.”
While I don’t think this will go anywhere soon, this is more than grand standing for attention. He is a true believer in removing those non-cis non-straight people from society. He believes in making the US a Christian theocracy. Again remember how this started, both here and in Russia. Save the little kids, you know babies to 3rd grade which in the US is normally until kids would be 9 years old going into 4th grade. Don’t confuse kids who were not confused at all by gender or that there were LGBTQIA people, they were not confused by gay people who loved each other. They made the law so vague teachers had to hide being gay and their families, and remove rainbow stickers along with anti-bullying posters. Then it worked, people bought it so they moved it to up to grade 12 because we wouldn’t want to confuse 18 year olds about gender or sexual orientation, would we? After all, young adults don’t need to see or hear that stuff in the brave new world of only straight cis people with strict gender rules of the 1950s and forced Christian bible slogans in every classroom. Do they, after all no mention of the gays or trans equals no gays or trans people right? Oh shit, they still exist in work places, adults have to be exposed to that confusion as well. Oh shit, we should not confuse adults about sexual orientation or gender just like we don’t want to confuse kids were not confused, especially little kids who openly accepted their peers once until adults told them that it was wrong to accept people who were different. So let’s do what we did with companies that encouraged diversity which really is just mixing the races, letting black / brown people have equal work / schooling opportunities. We will make it illegal! Nope, no LGBTQIA and no diversity allowed in private or state businesses. There now we have a nice white straight cis state with nice white straight cis businesses and majority white straight cis schools. Oops, forgot one detail. Got to keep forcing that good old Jesus on everyone. So now not just schools will have to display in god we trust and the then commandments, stores, business, state agencies, everywhere will. And we will have a local church tax for every district to support the Christian churches only. The rest you can donate if you want on your own time, Christianity is the state religion now in Florida, and soon other red states.
This is the world these people want, that they are driven to create for their god. Right or wrong they really believe the lies they were told about the US being founded as a special place for Christians and only Christians, that god will be angry until it is “again” a Christian nation that follows the “bible” way of life? I guess that means slaves and the right of a man to fuck everything while owning his wives, concubines … whatever. Sorry but they won’t accept half measures as you see, they take that offering of meeting half way and then demand the rest. For those that say the fight for trans stuff is too much, just give them that, do you see how wrong you are now? They took it, ran with it, then went after the rest of the people who are different. They simply do not want to live in a world with others not like them in it. Period. If you want to live in the modern age with acceptance and tolerance for all, we must defeat these people. Hugs. Scottie
A new bill just introduced in Florida aims to expand “Don’t Say Gay Or Trans” provisions to a broad range of workplaces. Targeting government employees, contractors, and nonprofits, the bill sets forth restrictions and bans on policies relating to pronouns, gender identity, and sexuality.
Specifically, it would prohibit state and local government employees as well as any contractors engaged with the government from changing their pronouns or honorifics if they do not match their assigned sex at birth.
It would also bar them from instructing on gender identity or sexuality, similar to “Don’t Say Gay Or Trans” laws already active in the state education system. The legislation would establish “biological” pronouns as official state policy.
What raised the loudest alarms among critics was a provision that appears to restrict any organization specifically serving LGBTQ individuals from receiving any state dollars. “It is an unlawful employment practice for a nonprofit organization or an employer who receives funding from the state to require, as a condition of employment, any training, instruction, or other activity on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression,” the bill reads.
The legislation is the second bill filed by Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, who was elected to the House in a Special Election in May. The House District 24 seat notably opened after former state Rep. Joe Harding, an Ocala Republican, resigned facing federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Harding authored a parental rights in education bill passed in 2022, the bill originally derided as the “don’t say gay bill.”
Chamberlin belongs to a Pentecostal church and launched a failed bid for the US House in 2020, finishing sixth in the GOP primary. His predecessor, Joe “Don’t Say Gay” Harding, is expected to begin on five month federal prison sentence on COVID fraud charges in January.
'Don't say gay' for nonprofits: @RyanDChamberlin files bill that would restrict LGBTQ nonprofits receiving state funding
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A new bill just introduced in Florida aims to expand “Don’t Say Gay Or Trans” provisions to a broad range of workplaces. The bill sets forth restrictions and bans on policies relating to pronouns, gender identity, and sexuality.https://t.co/t3TmvrdCep
In March 1997, he filed King’s Chamberlin Ministries, Inc., which was dissolved in September 2001 for failure to file an annual report. He didn’t recall the business but thought it was related to his brother who lives in Israel.
In October 1997, he filed Ryan Marketing Group, Inc., which was administratively dissolved for failure to file an annual report in September 1999.
In February of 1998, he filed a corporation called Professional Credit Services Acceptance Corporation, Inc. that was administratively dissolved for failure to file an annual report in September 1999.
In January 1999, he filed Freedom Investments, Inc. that was dissolved in October 2002 for failure to file an annual report.
In September 1999, he filed Freedom Team, Inc. which was administratively dissolved in September 2011.
In May 2010, he started a company called Prosperity Team Leaders, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2011 for failure to file an annual report.
In April 2011, he started a company called Empowered Companies, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2012 for failure to file an annual report.
In March 2013, he was on the board of EJ Kids, Inc. in Hollywood, Florida. That company administratively dissolved the following year for failure to file an annual report.
In February 2015, there was The Kids Movement, Inc., also created in Hollywood. That company was voluntarily dissolved in March 2019.
In January 2010, he started RJ Chamberlin, LLC, which he said he continues to operate for the consulting/training work he does for companies.
In April 2011, he started a company called Empowered Companies, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2012 for failure to file an annual report.
The only victories they try for are those that harm people they don’t like.
“It is an unlawful employment practice for a nonprofit organization or an employer who receives funding from the state to require, as a condition of employment, any training, instruction, or other activity on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression”
Note: If they were even remotely principled, they would have to admit that this would require refusing funding for any group that teaches that marriage is a heterosexual monopoly.
I think a lot of Floridians (gay and otherwise) are trying to figure out the best ways to fight this insane government. Voting is important for sure. But we need more and stronger resistance, more challenges in court, more protests. This is not an easy fight. I think a lot of people are just complacent in their comfy lifestyles. They really need to think otherwise. Danger, danger Will Robinson!
